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Wong MNC Center News

In late October, the one-and-a-half-day Global Backlash conference, hosted by UC Berkeley and co-organized by the Mr. & Mrs. S.H. Wong Center for the Study of Multinational Corporations (Wong MNC Center), Berkeley APEC Studies Center (BASC), and Center for Long-Term Cybersecurity (CLTC), took place at the University of California, Berkeley (USA). During the first day, participants, including academics and former and current policymakers, from China, Korea, India, Ireland, Singapore, and the US, spoke about the strategies that countries and companies were adopting to deal with the contemporary backlash against globalization. Dr. Jean-Marc F. Blanchard, Executive Director of the Wong MNC Center, spoke about China’s effort to leverage the BRI to promote Chinese technical and legal standards to deal with the challenges of anti-globalization.

On September 21, 2018, the Mr. & Mr. S.H. Wong Center for the Study of Multinational Corporation (Wong MNC Center) and the University of Nottingham, Ningbo jointly held a workshop on China’s Maritime Silk Road Initiative (MSRSI), Africa, and the Middle East.

The Mr. & Mrs. S.H. Wong Center for the Study of Multinational Corporations (Wong MNC Center) is co-organizing and co-sponsoring the “Coping with Global Backlash” Conference at the University of California Berkeley (UC Berkeley) in October 2018. The two-day event, which runs from October 18 to 19, is hosted by the UC Berkeley Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Study Center (BASC), Center for Long Term Cybersecurity, Clausen Center, and IEAS, which also are event co-organizers and co-sponsors. The conference will examine disruptions to the global economy in the form of trade protectionism, authoritarianism, China, and data competition. Analysts and practitioners from around the globe will convene not only to reflect on these trends, but also to offer insights about the strategies of global powers such as China and the European Union as well as the responses of companies to these dynamics.

Dr. Jean-Marc F. Blanchard, the Executive Director of the Mr. & Mrs. S.H. Wong Center for the Study of Multinational Corporations (Wong MNC Center), gave a keynote speech on June 10 at the 20th China Venture Capital & Private Equity Forum in Shenzhen, China at a panel that considered how to enhance business, scientific and technical, and other forms of cooperation in the Guangdong-Macao-Hong Kong (China) Greater Bay Area (粤港澳大湾区). During his presentation entitled “Soft Aspects of Solidifying a ‘Greater Bay Area,’” Dr.

Dr. Jean-Marc F. Blanchard, the Executive Director of the Mr. & Mrs. S.H. Wong Center for the Study of Multinational Corporations (Wong MNC Center), will speak at the 20th (2018) China Venture Capital & Private Equity Forum held from June 8-10 in Shenzhen, China. Dr. Blanchard will speak on "Hard Ways to Facilitate Soft Cooperation: The Case of the (China) Greater Bay Area" at a panel considering how to enhance cooperation in the Guangdong-Macao-Hong Kong (China) Greater Bay Area (粤港澳大湾区). The panel will investigate how Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macau can work to advance cooperation, with an emphasize on the smart hardware manufacturing industry.

On April 18, 2018, Dr. Jean-Marc F. Blanchard, Executive Director of the Mr. & Mrs. S.H. Wong Center for the Study of Multinational Corporations gave a speech at a United Nation's Industrial and Development Organization (UNIDO) conference (in Shanghai, China) entitled "Fostering Inclusive and Sustainable Industrial Development (ISID) in the New Silk Road Economic Belt: Leveraging potentials of Industrial Parks, Zones, and Cities." The title of Dr. Blanchard's speech was "Making a Portrait from the Dots: Challenges Highlighted by China’s Maritime Silk Road Initiative (MSRI)." In his speech, drawing upon his extensive knowledge about the MSRI, Dr.

On April 18, 2018, Dr. Jean-Marc F. Blanchard, Executive Director of the Mr. & Mrs. S.H. Wong Center for the Study of Multinational Corporations (Wong MNC Center), will speak at the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) conference on "Fostering Inclusive and Sustainable Industrial Development (ISID) in the New Silk Road Economic Belt: Leveraging potentials of Industrial parks, Zones, and Cities." Dr. Blanchard will participate on a panel entitled "Belt and Road Initiative" (BRI) that will cover the BRI, regional economic dynamics, UNIDO's inclusive and sustainable industrial development and strategic and operational framework, salient Asian Development Bank programs, and other themes. Dr. Blanchard also will moderate the panel.

On January 13, 2018, Dr. Jean-Marc F. Blanchard, Executive Director of the Mr. & Mrs. S.H. Wong Center for the Study of Multinational Corporations (Wong MNC Center) gave a keynote speech at the 2nd Silicon Valley-Beijing Internet of Things Summit & Investment and Financing Competition on a panel entitled “Design for Manufacturing.” The title of Dr. Blanchard’s speech was “The Political Environment Surrounding Chinese Expansion in Silicon Valley.” In his remarks, Dr. Blanchard discussed political and normative issues at the national, subnational, and societal level that Chinese firms contemplating investing or operating in Silicon Valley must consider. He emphasized companies cannot just focus on Silicon Valley, but also must be aware of actors and the situation in Washington including the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.

Dr. Louis Brennan, FTCD, has joined the Mr. & Mrs. S.H. Wong Center for the Study of Multinational Corporations as a Senior Research Fellow. Dr. Brennan is a Fellow of Trinity College Dublin and Professor with the Trinity Business School (Ireland), and an authority on Chinese Investment in Europe. For more information, please see http://www.mnccenter.org/research-fellows.

On November 18 and 19, 2017, the "Political Economy of China's Maritime Silk Road Initiative (MSRI), Africa, and the Middle East" conference was held in Shanghai, China. The conference, orchestrated and co-sponsored by the Mr. & Mrs. S.H. Wong Center for the Study of Multinational Corporations (Wong MNC Center) and hosted and co-sponsored by the School of Advanced International and Area Studies (SAIAS) at East China Normal University (ECNU), attracted scholars and attendees from more than a dozen countries including China, Iran, Kenya, Netherlands, the US, the UK, Russia, Ukraine, Singapore, and Turkey. Opening speeches were given by Dr. Jean-Marc F. Blanchard, Executive Director of the Wong MNC Center, ECNU SAIAS Dean LIU Jun, and ECNU Office of International Exchange Director Dr. Zhou Yunxuan. The conference keynote speech was given by Dr.